"Not which one, but which ones" Darthañan replied.

Helvella's smile disappeared.

"I think at least three duchies were involved" Darthañan added.

"And there are only five" said Helvella, frowning.

"How long ago were you attacked?"

Darthañan closed his eyes for a moment, with all the urgency in which they had been surviving he had not paid attention to how much time they had been lost in the forest.

"About two weeks" he guessed.

Darthañan opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on Helvella. The lepiota raised his hand to his jaw and thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"If it's a simple power fight in Marburkan there is no major problem, but if one of those duchies belongs to the guardians we could be dealing with traitors"

As Helvella and Darthañan spoke, Frigglene's vision began to blur, the adrenaline began to diminish, her instincts told her that the people in front of them were allies. It was then that the fatigue of having carried the lives of her children and her husband during the last days exploded. Her vision went black and her body collapsed.

Albella reacted first, catching Frigglene in her arms.

"¡My Love!" Darthañan shouted worried, approaching his wife immediately. Elizabeth, noticing her father's reaction, also started calling Frigglene with her tender babble.

"Mom, mom, mom..."

And to finish Theodor began to cry like never before. Seeing what had just happened Helvella decided to leave the subject for when they returned to Vorpiax.

"Fusca, Albella organize them in one of the tents"

"Yes, sir" they both replied in unison.

Helvella immediately approached Darthañan and placing a hand on his shoulder reassured him.

"You all must be exhausted. Rest and when we get to Vorpiax we will continue our talk. Now focus on your wife and your offspring"

Darthañan nodded hurriedly, so worried that he barely heard Helvella. He got up immediately and followed Fusca and Albella until they reached a green tent.

The design was simple, the exterior was made of plant fiber and the interior had some animal skins on the floor. Albella laid Frigglene down carefully, then offered Darthañan to care for their offspring while he and his wife rested.

Darthañan allowed Fusca and Albella to carry his children with some opposition, he still did not completely trust these people. But mentally he reminded himself that they, too, belonged to a guardian family, lessening the doubt of living the children with them.

The moment the two young lepiots walked out of the tent carrying the babies, Darthañan felt the heaviness of his body and inadvertently fell asleep next to his wife.

The camp they were in was different from what any other humanoid race would call the same. The Ents had simply inserted their roots into the ground; the endur, the humanoid version of the bushes with a height of approximately one meter, gathered in groups, as if they were hugging each other; while the Ubax, the humanoid version of the flowers that do not exceed 30 centimeters, and the lepiots, the humanoid version of the fungi that can reach up to two meters long, were found in fine plant fiber tents and in some cases were resting on the branches of the Ents.

When Fusca and Albella arrived at the tent where they stayed with their brothers and sisters. Rivularis noticed the two little ones they were carrying. The tent was shaped like a hexagon, on each side a bed and on the front one the door

"What are you doing with the saplings of the human and the vampire?"

"We are taking care of them while their parents rest"

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Listening to his younger brother Latispora put down the book she was reading and turned her gaze to the newcomers.

"Do you know those saplings are stupid?"

Her other three siblings turned to see her.

"According to a book I read, the saplings of the humanoid mammals should be walking in the first year and by three they should already be speaking in simple sentences"

Seeing that none of her siblings said anything, she took the silence as interest, got up and walked until she was in front of her sister Albella, who was carrying Theodor.

"By their physiology we can deduce that they are around three years old. When you see the muscles in their legs, you can see that they are not walking yet. And neither of them speaks in simple sentences"

Albella was going to refute her sister, but she stopped not knowing the names of the saplings. She had forgotten to ask for the names when she decided to take care of them with her brothers.

"At least the girl says Mom, although badly, she says it. While this one is limited to babbling"

Latispora approached Theodor looking him with contempt.

"They are a disgrace to Guardian families..."

"¡Poof!"

A red mark from a small hand appeared on Latispora's cheek.

"Hahaha" Rivularis burst out laughing, unlike his older siblings who barely avoided it. Rivularis tried to make more fuss, adding salt to the wound in his sister's ego.

Theodor, upon seeing the condescending gaze of Latispora, naturally reacted by slapping her with all his might. Latispora raised her hand to her cheek indignantly, not knowing that the seal Darthañan had placed on both babies had saved her life. Without the seal, the blow would have pulverized a quarter of her head.

"That's what you get for being pedantic" Rivularis continued mocking her.

"You haven't mastered 'On Guard' and gave an opening to the baby" Albella said passing by her sister's side.

The technique that Albella mentioned was one of the three secret techniques of their family. It is a combination of breathing rhythm and muscle tension in order to always be prepared for a surprise attack.

"Easy there, none of us mastered it before the age of 15" Fusca said to eliminate the tension in the environment. Then he went to the center of the tent and lowered little Elizabeth on the animal skins.

"And regarding your comment, Latispora" he added.

"I feel like these saplings are more complicated than what they seem"

Rivularis approached Elizabeth, avoiding Theodor because of the slap he gave to his sister, and began to examine her carefully.

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Is that your instinct?" Asked the youngest of them.

"Instinct is only for animals" said Latispora trying to vent a little of the anger she was feeling on her brother.

"Instinct is necessary in a battle when decisions have to be made faster than your brain can rationalize things"

"Someone with instinct can only win in a battle if their opponent lacks technique and experience"

"When your body moves on its own after many fights it is experience turned into instinct"

"¡No! That would be muscle memory, very different from instinct. I don't know how I am the sister of people that don't know eve that ..."

As the four siblings argued, Elizabeth watched their expressions with fascination and listened with interest to the conversation. Anyone who saw her would think she was understanding everything. On the other hand, Theodor was putting one of the skins on the floor in his mouth.

"¡Ugh!"

Hearing the sound, Elizabeth turned her face away and saw her brother choking on a piece he had bitten. Her big and golden eyes widened with fear, the little girl understood immediately that something was wrong with her brother. All she could think of at the time was his brother's name: Theodor.

"Tododo" she stammered trying to say his name.

Theodor's face began to turn purple, his hands tearing at the skin from which he had bitten the piece. Even the diamond spider was moving up and down his throat in a hectic way.

Elizabeth's concern reached such a point that she only screamed in despair.

"¡Tod!"

Due to the shout that interrupted their discussion, the four brothers immediately turned to see the children.

"¡Ugh!"

"¡Ugh!"

Theodor was pale purple, eyes watery, and his body was beginning to move as if he was convulsing.

Fusca, the eldest, reacted immediately and pounced on the little one, grabbed him and made two of his fingers stretch out the diameter of needles. He carefully inserted them into the mouth of the sapling and removed the material he had ingested. Elizabeth's screams were still heard.

"Tod, Tod, Tod"

"Easy, easy, everything is fine" said Albella, carrying Elizabeth and bringing her closer to her brother.

Still scared Elizabeth reached out and touched her brother's face. At that moment Theodor turned and smiled at her, although his eyes were watery and his nose runny, the gesture looked very cute.

"Eli" he smiled launching himself over her and hugging her.

"¡Wow! They leave the saplings for two seconds for you to take care and you almost killed one" scoffed the voice of a new person who had just opened the tent.

"Shut up Brevi" Albella replied immediately.

"Yes, shut up Brevi" Rivularis followed.

"You are the least suited to talk about responsibilities" Latispora added.

Brevi just showed them a mocking smile and headed towards his bed.